Whatever the Cost May Be
by MadameAnnabeth
Summary: Sequel to 'Omnia Vincit Amor'. The rest of the tributes have left for the army base and Katniss is left behind to train. Katniss finds herself protecting not only herself and her family, but many others as well against enemies both in the outside world and in the District 13 bunker. Katniss/Cato
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**This is the sequel for Omnia Vincit Amor.**

**Wow. I hope that this part of my story gets as much attention as the first part. I just want to say thank you to everyone who read and reviewed Omnia Vincit Amor. You are all amazing. Let's do it again, shall we?**

**I forgot to say it, but I now have a lovely Beta by the name of sundragons9. So you can thank my Beta as well for the turnout of this story.**

**The rest of the tributes have left for the army base and Katniss is left behind to train. Katniss finds herself protecting not only herself and her family, but many others as well against enemies both in the outside world and in the District 13 bunker. Katniss/Cato **

**By the way, italics are Katniss' thoughts/flashbacks.**

* * *

**Part II – Whatever the Cost May Be**

* * *

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

- Winston Churchill

* * *

The atmosphere of the underground bunker of District 13 was strictly solemn. Not only had the tributes, the shining stars, the symbols of rebellion, all left for the army base. The one they had left, the girl on fire, the Mockingjay, had disappeared from the public eye. Many said that she'd locked herself in her room after they left, mourning the loss of her friends. But one look at her parents told everyone that they hardly saw her as well.

So others said that she'd been taking into custody by President Coin. They'd all heard of the many minor rebellious actions that she'd committed against the president of the rebellion. Most of the rumors of her arrest were started amongst the guards who were loyal to Coin. Other rumors were that she'd even taken her own life after the rest of the tributes left for the army base, so depressed by her lover's disappearance from her life.

All of these rumors were heard by the very same Katniss Everdeen. And all of them fueled her anger. They'd only left three days ago and already everyone was second guessing her and questioning her abilities. She was the damned girl on fire and she was going to prove all of them wrong. Whatever the cost may be.

* * *

"Faster." Haymitch growled.

"I am running as fast as I can! So maybe you should put down that fucking bottle and run with me just so you can see that!" Katniss shouted over her shoulder as she continued to run around the large room.

At first she thought that it was ridiculous that the rebels had built a gigantic training room entirely for her uses, including a pool and a running track, but then she was a bit grateful. She did not want to train under the watchful eyes of the people here. Sure she liked them and all, but she didn't want an audience. The five people watching her at that moment was already too much for her. The whistle blew and she skidded to a stop, bending over to breath deeply.

"Over here." A voice said.

She turned to glare at Finnick.

"Can I have a second to recover from the five miles you just made me run?" she demanded.

"That depends, do you think that the careers ever had a second to rest?" the woman standing next to Finnick shrugged, picking at her nails.

Johanna Mason almost always rubbed Katniss the wrong way and got on her last nerve every time she spoke.

"Be nice to her, Johanna, she's just getting used to this." the quieter girl standing slightly behind Finnick said softly.

Annie Cresta, however, Katniss liked a lot. It was clear to see that looking at Finnick, despite his tendency to flirt with everything with legs, was in love with her. The last person on her team of trainers was Boggs, which she didn't understand because he should have been at the army base helping out there.

"Also, I'm not a career." Katniss snapped as she stomped over, giving Annie a slight smile.

"No, you're much different." Boggs said gruffly, turning to face her. "You're a soldier. We're meant to make you into someone who will follow orders."

Katniss raised her eyebrow at him. After spending three days with him, she'd already gotten a read on Boggs and he'd gotten a read on her. Now, they didn't take any shit from each other and everyone around them knew it.

"Follow orders?" Katniss demanded.

"Yes, Miss Everdeen, follow orders."

"Tell me, Boggs, if I get an order saying to kill a group of children, do I follow that order?" Katniss asked, hands on her hips.

"You won't get that order." He shrugged.

"Say that I do." Katniss said.

"You won't." he said simply, not at all bothered by her questioning as he usually wasn't.

"What if the children are conditioned by the Capitol to kill me on sight?" Katniss said, suddenly realizing that she wasn't questioning Boggs so much as she was questioning herself.

They all grew silent. Katniss shook her head and began to stretch out so that her muscles would stay warm.

"I think that's enough running for today. Katniss you can work with Annie and Finnick in the pool on water conditioning." Boggs said, sensing the solemn atmosphere.

"I'm just fine with that." Finnick said, winking at Katniss to break the awkward atmosphere.

"On second though, Odair with us. Cresta you work with Katniss in the water. You're better at it anyways." The commander said, rolling his eyes at the handsome victor.

Finnick shrugged and shot Katniss a charming grin before he turned to walk out with Johanna, Haymitch, and Boggs. Katniss turned to Annie and the quiet girl smiled at her.

"Let's go get changed." She said softly, walking with Katniss to the locker room.

When they were in the swimsuits, Katniss walked out.

"Isn't it more suitable for me to wear clothes? Will I ever actually be stuck in water in a swimsuit?" Katniss asked, tugging at the skintight thing.

"No, but for now we'll stick with these." Annie laughed.

Katniss watched as she gracefully dove into the water and came back up a full ten seconds later halfway across the 164-foot pool.

"Come on." Annie beckoned her.

Katniss didn't dive into the deep water, instead choosing to slide in and she gripped to the side of the pool. She was comfortable swimming but not quite so comfortable as Annie.

"We need to condition you to be able to hold your breath underwater for extended periods of time." Annie said.

"How long can you hold it under the water?" Katniss inquired.

"Five minutes when forced." The other dark haired girl said, dipping back under water.

Katniss sighed and turned, floating on her back peacefully. The water training was her favorite part so far. It was as taxing on her muscles as the rest, but it made her feel weightless and carefree. When she reached Annie, she turned to see what they would do that day.

"Do you miss him?" she asked softly, looking at Katniss with her big green eyes.

"What?" she said, surprised by the question.

"Everyone talks about you and how you must be so sad he's gone. Do you miss him?" Annie asked, looking completely innocent.

Perhaps that's why Katniss felt even remotely comfortable with answering her.

"I… I suppose that I do miss him, quite a lot, actually." Katniss admitted, looking down at the water.

"_I gotta go."_

She shook her head as his voice echoed through her head. They were almost the last words he spoke to her. They would have been if she hadn't mustered up the courage to say what she'd been thinking for a long time.

"_Cato!"_

Anne looked at her strangely yet sympathetically.

"I keep going over that day, our last moments together, over and over again." Katniss admitted.

"I do that every time Finnick has to leave. It always seems like it'll be the last time we see each other and I have to say everything." Annie agreed.

"_I love you more than anything."_

"So that feeling doesn't go away, then?" Katniss asked, biting her lip.

Annie let out a short laugh, looking surprised at herself for doing so.

"No, it doesn't go away." She said sadly.

"_I love you too, Katniss Everdeen."_

"Does it ever get better? This… empty feeling?" Katniss asked, lazily swimming next to her.

"It can. If you just remember everything that happened between you that was good. All of the stolen kisses and happy moments." Annie said with a fond smile.

"_Don't you ever forget it."_

"I think I can do that." Katniss said, smiling slightly as well.

"You're strong, stronger than anyone here and you should be the one teaching us, not the other way around. You'll always be strong and you can do anything. Don't let anyone ever tell you different." Annie said, her clear eyes boring into Katniss'

This was the most Katniss had heard her speak since she met her.

"Do you really think we can win this war?" Katniss asked.

"It depends on what your definition of 'win' is. If winning is simply taking the Capitol and killing President Snow, then yes, we can definitely do that. But it comes with costs, unimaginable costs. Death and destruction and broken lives. Does that mean we won? I suppose that's up to the individual." Annie shrugged, turning to swim faster.

Katniss remained where she was, kicking her feet to stay afloat.

Death and destruction and broken lives. That's what war brought. So was it worth it? If they captured the Capitol and destroyed Snow, did it mean they won? She closed her eyes, images of those whom she loved flashing through her mind. Her mother and her father. Prim. Rue. Catri. Ceporis. Caleesi. Crucius. Ivory. Laurel. Glimmer. Marvel. Peeta. Gale. Thresh. Cato. Would she do whatever it took to 'win' this war, whatever the cost may be?

She didn't have the answer to that question, and that bothered her beyond belief.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you liked the first chapter of the new story. Please review and tell me what you think! Also, in case I didn't mention it before, I imagine Sean Bean playing Boggs. I'm not going to say who I imagine playing Annie, Finnick, and Johanna because I have no clue.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks to Dramione-Fan 17, Bobby, 111, NeverRegretAnything, Barrel Racing Brat, LilyNightShade, Midnight Rose 97, Fanpire109, vampiregoth28, Abigail25, MoonlightDiva, irapatole1912, sundragons9, Rebecca, C.B. Weasley, Olive Monster, HungerGamesFan67, sara2401, and jada3012 for reviewing the first chapter (sorry I missed a few the first time around). I hope you like this one as much.**

**And once again, special thanks to my Beta, sundragons9. You're a huge help!**

* * *

Katniss knew that everyone was wondering where she was. Unfortunately, one of Coin's inescapable stipulations for Katniss' training was that she had to have three weeks of uninterrupted training. Three weeks without her family or friends interrupting. To say that she had been pissed off about it was an understatement. She'd been furious. But considering that Coin had a lot more manpower and influence, she won that small battle. However, because Katniss was constantly locked up in the training center, a little room with a cot just outside of it serving as her bedroom, she had a lot of free time. Two weeks into her seclusion, she was about to go crazy.

Using her free time, Katniss easily found a way into the ventilation system. It was easy enough to navigate away from the training center and drop into the garden room that wasn't too far away. Then she would leave and first go to her own family's home. It happened at the same time late at night so they always knew to be waiting up for her. They would hug and Prim would tell her everything she missed before she went through what she did for training that day. Then she would sneak out and go to Cato's family's room, where they would welcome her with open arms.

That night, however, they had something else for her. When she walked in, Catria and Ceporis were waiting to tackle her with hugs. She laughed and bent down, embracing them both at once.

"Oh darling, you have bruises." Caleesi said with wide eyes, looking upon Katniss' arms.

"We were sparring today. Don't worry, it's normal." Katniss shrugged, wincing at the aching pain.

"Good news, Katniss." Crucius said with a grin, walking up to her and kissing her cheek.

"What?" she asked, knowing it had something to do with Cato.

She accepted a grinning Laurel into her arms when she sat next to Ivory and smiled at her.

"He's sent us all letters." Caleesi said, handing Katniss' to her.

"That's great." She breathed, looking down at her name scribbled out in his messy writing.

"You don't have to open it here. We understand if you want to do it in private. But he seems to be doing well." the matriarch of his family said with a grin.

"I bet he is." Katniss nodded, tucking the envelope under her leg so Laurel wouldn't capture it and start chewing on it.

She babbled at her before laying her head on Katniss' chest. Katniss smiled and stroked her light blonde hair.

"You have to go soon." Ivory said, putting her arm around Katniss.

"Yeah I do. The guards will be coming in for a check in about fifteen minutes." She said, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Well we'll see you tomorrow. Everyone say bye to Katniss." Caleesi said as she relinquished Laurel to Ivory's waiting arms.

Katniss hugged everyone and kissed the little children's cheeks before departing. When she got back to her room, she sat on her cot and took the envelope out of the pocket of the thin jacket she was wearing. She sighed and held it for a moment, just preparing herself to read his words. It was the first time she'd heard from him since he left. She opened it slowly and read it, devouring the words hungrily.

_Katniss,_

_I'm not entirely sure of what to say. I've never written letters before. I wish you were here; it's boring without you. I miss kissing you the most. You are a hell of a kisser. I hope you're doing all right with the training. I don't envy your position. It's a good thing being here without Coin. I hope that you can join us soon. Everyone misses you and says hello. Tell your little sister and Rue that I say hello. Give Laurel and Catri and Ceporis a hug for me. I hope no one is giving you trouble. If they are, I'll kick their ass next time I'm there. Be careful for me, ok? There have been rumors that the Capitol sent hidden spies into the bunker. We don't know how but we are investigating it. I have to stop writing now. I miss you and I love you._

_Love, _

_Cato_

Katniss sighed and folded the letter up neatly, shoving it underneath the cot before lying down. She was certain that the letter would help her extreme case of missing him, but it only made it worse.

* * *

When her forced seclusion was over, Katniss almost ran out of the training center, ready to celebrate her freedom. Unfortunately, she was met with a group of people waiting on her. A few of Coin's subordinates were standing there looking annoyed. Effie and Haymitch were there along with Boggs and the rest of her trainers. Finnick winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes but still grin widely just like she always did when he acted ridiculous. To her surprise, Cinna was there with Octavia, Flavius, and Venia.

"What's going on?" she asked, impatient as she wanted to go see her and Cato's family.

"We thought that we would show our Mockingjay her new home." Cinna said, coming forward to hug her.

Katniss embraced him back but held him tightly.

"What new home?" she whispered.

"You're important and, as much as she doesn't like you, Coin recognizes that you need to be treated better than you have been because people will listen to you if you decide to stand against her." he murmured back before he broke away from the embrace and smiled at her.

"Great." She said, forcing a smile onto her face.

"It's not far from your own family's apartment." Effie assured her as they walked through the halls.

"We decorated it for you." Octavia exclaimed, looking thrilled.

Katniss' eyes widened. Flashes of a room with many colors swirling around her went through her mind.

"I oversaw it." Cinna assured her, patting her arm comfortingly to keep her from hyperventilating at the thought.

"Thank you." she said softly, not wanting to hurt the feelings of the childish ex-Capitol citizens.

He just smiled at her as they walked through the hallway. When they reached the area where her family's apartment was, she saw a small crowd outside of it. Prim, Rue, and Catri were practically bouncing as she walked up. When they caught sight of her, they squealed and she broke away from the group, running to them so that she could embrace them. Ceporis came next, leaping into her arms excitedly. Katniss laughed and hugged him back equally as tight as he was squeezing her.

Then she hugged her mother and father, Caleesi, Ivory and Crucius before taking a giggling Laurel who, apparently, had begun to walk in the past week.

"Kat!" she exclaimed.

Katniss' eyes widened.

"We wanted it to be a surprise for you. She just started talking last week and she hasn't stopped since. About the third day she started saying your name. I think she missed you." Ivory said, stroking her daughter's hair.

"You're just all grown up now, aren't you?" Katniss asked, marveling over how comfortable she was with the little baby now compared to almost two months ago when she first met her.

"Are you ready?" Cinna asked, gesturing to the room.

"Where did Coin's people go?" she asked, looking around suspiciously.

"She wanted them to escort us here for the sake of appearances but now they're gone." Haymitch said gruffly.

"All except for Boggs." Katniss acknowledged, looking at the older soldier.

"Yeah I don't think he's gonna admit it, but you've grown on him." Finnick said, grinning at her.

"You sure as hell haven't grown on me." Johanna said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh yes I have. You just don't want to admit it." Katniss said with a grin, surprised that she was able to be in a good mood after the sullen one she'd been in ever since Cato left.

"Let's go." Prim exclaimed, dragging her into the apartment while she still held Laurel.

Katniss stared around with awe. It was, for lack of a better word, perfect. The walls were a dark blue color. The furniture was in different metallic colors, silver, black, and blue. It was the same size as the other apartments but it was a bit of a different layout.

"Wow, Cinna this is amazing." She breathed.

"You haven't even seen the best part yet!" Effie sang, dragging her into the bedroom.

It was done in the same colors but instead of having two twin beds like hers that she shared with Prim did, it had one huge bed. It looked amazingly comfortable. So much so that Prim, Catri, Ceporis, and Rue all immediately leapt onto it and voiced their approval of it, much to Effie's annoyance.

"Leave them be." Katniss waved off as she tried to convince them to get off the bed.

"Come on." Effie sighed, pulling her into another room that was completely dark.

"Is it my torture chamber?" Katniss asked, confused by the darkness of it.

"No." Effie admonished.

Suddenly light filled her eyes and she gasped, her eyes widening as she looked around. Laurel squealed and clapped her hands at the sight, seeming amused by the different colors and fabrics around her. It was her closet. But it wasn't just a closet. It was the closet. Bigger than both the living room and her bedroom. It housed hundreds of different outfits.

"If you're going to be our Mockingjay, you need to look the part. You aren't just going to be a soldier. You're going to be a symbol." Cinna explained as Katniss walked around, letting Laurel touch the clothing much to Effie's disapproval.

"This is too much. Is this what you've been working on? That's why I haven't seen you since the first propo was filmed." Katniss said, turning to face Cinna.

"It gets better." He said.

"No, Cinna this is just too much. I can't believe you did all this for me. I'm not really that important." Katniss argued as he led her to the back of the closet.

"You'll like this part." He assured her.

When she saw him pointing, she followed his finger and inspected what he was gesturing to. When she gasped loudly and clapped a hand over her mouth, he smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"I knew you would like it." he told her as she faced him with tears filling her eyes.

"Thank you, Cinna." She whispered, grinning up at him.

Three entire rows of the closet were filled with clothing that did not belong to her. It was far too large and manly. They were for Cato and that meant more than anything else in this apartment. She already knew that Cinna didn't have a problem with her and Cato's relationship. But to see him fully supporting their relationship was making her very happy. And the idea of him living with her made her even happier.

"You're amazing." She said before turning to walk out.

Caleesi was waiting with Crucius and Ivory.

"You saw." Cato's mother said with a smile.

"Yeah, are you ok with it?" Katniss asked, unsure of what to say to her.

"It was my idea. I love my son and I know that he loves us but I think he's outgrown living with his family. When he comes back he'll be surprised and pleased, I think." Caleesi said, reaching out and hugging her.

"I hope so." Katniss nodded, looking around the room.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, after talking with everyone, exploring the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, and hugging everyone once again, Katniss was left alone in her room with her family.

"Do you like it? They asked us about the colors." Prim said, sitting on the long couch with Katniss.

"I love it, Little Duck." Katniss assured her, smoothing out her long blonde hair.

Katniss heard her mother sniffling and looked over to see her fighting tears.

"Mom, what's wrong?" she asked, surprised by her crying.

"Nothing. I know you're only going to be a few doors down but… I feel like I just got you back." she said, smiling as her husband rubbed her back.

"It'll be ok." Leonis said, rubbing her back soothingly.

Prim curled up with her sister as they just talked. And Katniss, despite the fact that she felt like something huge was missing with Cato's absence, felt like she was part of a family again. When her father looked at her, she smiled at him, nodding in acceptance. The pain that she felt when he disappeared would never go away. But she couldn't keep being angry with him for it or she would never move on.

**Author's Note: Hope you liked it! Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks to MyNameIsJessie, Olive Monster, Midnight Rose 97, Dramione-fan 17, Rebecca, NeverRegretAnything, vampiregoth28, sara2401, and 111 for reviewing!**

**Thanks again to my Beta, sundragons9.**

* * *

At the army base, it was one of their rare days off. Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, Thresh, and Peeta all gathered in one of the many weapons rooms to talk without people interrupting them.

"I never thought that I would wish to be back in that fucking bunker. This place is horrid." Clove growled, twirling knives in her hands.

Everyone grunted and mumbled in agreement. Cato was polishing his sword like it was his baby. He had been very quiet ever since they got to the army base, only talking when someone asked him a question. Everyone knew why. He wouldn't admit it, but they all knew he missed Katniss.

"Has she written you back yet?" Glimmer asked, plopping down next to him.

He shook his head, looking sad for a moment before the blank look once again took its place.

"Don't read too much into it, man. You know that Coin probably monitors everything Katniss is doing. For all we know, she may not be letting Katniss write a letter." Marvel said, patting his back.

"I'm fine." Cato said roughly, glaring up at Marvel.

Clove scoffed and shook her head.

"You got something to say, Clove?" He demanded.

"Yeah, I do. You're not fine, Cato. You're doing your own version of moping which includes threatening our superiors. You're gonna get in trouble, asshole." She snapped.

"That's enough, guys." Glimmer said, her eyes narrowing at them.

"She's right. Fighting won't help anything." Peeta said, flicking dirt off of his boots.

"No one asked you, Mellark." Cato growled.

"Hey, Cato. You really need to stop. We're sorry you don't have Katniss here but you can't keep taking it out on us. You have to remember that we're your friends. We survived the Games just like you did right alongside you." Marvel said.

Cato glanced up at him and his hardened look softened a bit.

"I just wish she was here." He said before turning to stomp out of the room.

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Katniss asked, looking around the unfamiliar hallway.

"To the tech office." Haymitch said simply.

"Tech? Why?" Katniss demanded.

"Damn, would you stop asking questions?" he growled, pulling out a flask.

"I thought you weren't supposed to have alcohol." She said, giving him a glare.

"Odair snuck some to me, bless him." Haymitch said sarcastically, taking a swig of the liquid.

Katniss grimaced and rolled her eyes as they came to a door. Haymitch knocked loudly and it opened to reveal a man with pale, ashen skin and black hair. He was wearing glasses that didn't fit very well.

"Come in." he said, stepping to the side so they could walk in.

They were surrounded by monitors and different technological devices.

"Katniss Everdeen, it's an honor to meet you." he said, reaching out to shake her hand.

"You too?" she asked, confused about who he was.

"This is Beetee. He's a previous victor and real good with tech stuff." Haymitch said, gesturing between them.

"Oh." She nodded, looking around.

"I'm going to teach you some of the stuff that I know." Beetee informed her.

Katniss nodded and sat in front of the blank monitors where he gestured for her to sit. He sat next to her and began furiously typing on a keyboard. They suddenly all came alive and showed images. It took a moment for her to realize that they were surveillance monitors. The cafeteria, all the hallways, the training center, her training center.

"You see everything here?" she asked, looking around at them, pleased to see that neither the garden room nor the forest room were under surveillance just as she thought.

"Yes, even the apartments. They aren't constantly being watched but if there is an incident..." Beetee pressed a few keys and hundreds of rooms filled the monitors, which were divided into four squares to show four different rooms.

"… we can investigate it and decide what happened." He explained.

Katniss bit her lip to keep from ranting that it was an absolute invasion of privacy. When she caught sight of her empty apartment on one of the monitors, she felt anger but pushed it away.

"Can you see outside too?" she asked.

Beetee nodded and typed something. Several angles of the exterior of the bunker appeared. A few guards were pacing back and forth with guns in their hands.

"Interesting." She nodded.

"We can even see the army base and what's going on there. I'm not really supposed to see it, but I am smarter than they give me credit for and this room is not under surveillance." Beetee said with a grin as he began typing.

And just like that, Katniss liked Beetee.

The monitors were filled with images of men and women in black army uniforms going about their day. Some were in meetings. Some were eating. Some were just walking around. Katniss' eyes searched the screens hungrily for a sight of _him_. When she saw a weapons room with a group of people sitting on the floor talking, she recognized them all immediately.

"Haymitch look!" she pointed to the screen.

"There they are." He said, peering at Glimmer, Marvel, Clove, Thresh, and Peeta.

"He's not there." Katniss whispered, mostly to herself.

Haymitch looked at her with a look that was a cross between sympathy and uncertainty. When he looked back at the monitors, he caught sight of something in one of the hallways.

"Sweetheart." He said, pointing to the screen.

She looked up and inhaled sharply. He was leaning against the wall, his thick arms crossed across his chest and his legs crossed. To the outside observer, he looked like he was casually waiting on someone. Katniss moved as close as she could to the screen and she instantly knew better. The tension was clear in the way he was holding himself. His eyes were downcast and hiding something. He was biting his lower lip furiously, a habit he picked up from her. She put her hand over the screen and shut her eyes as they burned with tears. Katniss wished that she could be there to smooth out the stress lines on his forehead and kiss his sadness away.

"You all right?" Beetee asked.

"Yeah." She nodded, pulling away and giving him one last look before asking Beetee to switch it back to the cameras at the bunker.

"What am I learning?" she asked.

"Well one of the things you're learning is how to find and manipulate both audio and visual surveillance." Beetee said, holding up a small camera.

"Will that be something I have to do at some point?" she asked skeptically, pretty positive that even Cato couldn't do that.

"You never know, sweetheart." Haymitch said, his eyebrow raised.

She stared at him strangely, wondering why they were being so cryptic. When his eyes gestured to the screens, Katniss suddenly realized what they were doing. They were going to help her get rid of the surveillance in her room. She suddenly broke out into a grin.

"Well then teach me." she said, sitting down and focusing her attention on Beetee.

"First, you have to learn a few basics about technology." He warned her.

She nodded and listened closely as he began lecturing her on the different devices in the room. Katniss paid closer attention to him than she had in any of her classes at school when she was younger. After all, this gave a direct advantage to her and she was willing to learn it.

* * *

"Cato warned me about something in a letter that you all need to watch out for. And warn everyone else to watch out for." Katniss said softly as she stood in front of Haymitch, Finnick, and Cinna in the forest room.

"What is it?" Cinna asked.

"They think that Capitol spies snuck into here. Dangerous ones. I don't know why they're here but I have a good idea. Snow can't be happy that District 13 has all of the tributes. They might target me, they might target our mentors, they might target our families. I don't know but I can't bring this to Coin, she'll never believe me and then she'll restrict contact between Cato and me. I already can't send him letters cause of that bitch." Katniss glowered, remembering the conversation in which Coin told her it would be best not to distract both herself and him from their training.

"We'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious." Finnick assured her.

Katniss nodded as they turned to walk out.

"Oh, hey Katniss, I forgot. Annie wanted to know if it's ok if she comes by your apartment later?" Finnick said as they exited the room.

"Of course. I'll just be working on my projects from Beetee." Katniss said, nodding as she walked away from them towards the cafeteria to meet her family for lunch.

* * *

She was curled up on her couch reading Jane Austen and sipping at hot chocolate when a soft knock sounded on her door. She smiled and went to it, opening it up to reveal Annie. Ever since Glimmer left and Katniss was left without a friend, she was glad to have Annie. She missed Glimmer and knew that they were still best friends, but Annie was completely opposite of Glimmer, so sweet and soft-spoken.

"Come in." she said, stepping aside to let her in.

"Thanks for letting me come over, Katniss." Annie said gratefully.

"It is absolutely no problem at all." She said, gesturing to the couch to sit with her.

"I guess you already know but Finnick and I…" she trailed off, looking for the right words.

"You're in love?" Katniss asked, smiling slightly.

"Yeah. We're in love." Annie nodded, smiling as well.

"I think everyone who sees you two together, despite Finnick's tendency to flirt with everyone, knows that you're in love." Katniss informed her.

Annie nodded, her smile suddenly fading.

"He's always trying to get me to talk about what happened in the arena." She said sadly.

Katniss remembered that Annie survived because the arena flooded and she was the best swimmer.

"You can't." she guessed.

Annie shook her head. Katniss sighed and bit her lip.

"Before the Games ended and we started to work together, they were killing people. Thirteen people died. Most of them in the bloodbath. But I made an ally pretty much immediately." She said.

Katniss had been avoiding talking about the Games but as soon as Annie mentioned them, she knew that she had to talk to someone else. Someone who hadn't killed anyone, like Annie, and who lost someone, like Annie. Finnick probably sent Annie to Katniss for that exact reason.

"You did?" Annie asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

Katniss nodded, swallowing with difficulty.

"His name was Imanol." Her voice cracked when she finally said his name after all that time.

She hadn't talked about him since he died.

"You were close to him?" the other girl asked.

"No, not really. I mean, I protected him from the very beginning. I helped him with this knife wound he got. I got us water and food. I took him up into the tree with me cause I thought that would be the safest spot for us." Katniss explained, staring down at her hands.

"How did he die?" Annie asked and Katniss looked up to see tears in her eyes.

To her surprise, tears were also filling Katniss' eyes.

"He was scared and the careers promised him protection. But they only wanted me because of my score that I got in training. So when he went with them and I refused to go, one of them killed him." Katniss said, the tears spilling over.

She'd seen Imanol's family about two weeks after they arrived at the bunker. He looked exactly like his father. When they saw her, they all kissed their three fingers and held them out to her, even his little brother did. Katniss had cried for hours afterwards. Luckily it was when Cato and her were not speaking so she didn't have the chance to blow up at him over his death again.

"I'm sorry." Annie whispered, her tears spilling over as well.

"He was fourteen years old." Katniss murmured, the image of his glassy, unseeing eyes staring up at the sky flashing through her mind.

"You said the careers killed him but you're friends with them. You're with one of them." Annie said, confused.

"We went through a lot together and I realized that they weren't all bad. They were formed into killing machines but that didn't mean that they were what the Capitol made them be. I just wanted to help them realize that." Katniss said.

When she looked up, she saw Annie staring ahead blankly. She was used to her doing that by now. Usually Finnick was there and he would comfort her by speaking softly in her ear. But Katniss had no idea what to do.

"My district partner was beheaded right in front of me. It was so red. There was blood everywhere. It was all over me. I prayed for rain so that it would wash it off. I guess the Capitol answered my prayers with a flood." Annie said, suddenly letting out an exhilarated laugh.

"I know." Katniss said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"I think sometimes that I'm insane. But then I realize that Finnick loves me and I don't think he would fall in love with someone who is insane. So maybe then I'm not insane." Annie said softly, finally looking at Katniss with wide eyes.

"I don't think you're insane, Annie. But Finnick loves you for you, even if you were insane." Katniss nodded, squeezing her hand.

"You didn't kill anyone, like me." Annie acknowledged.

"No, I didn't." Katniss said, shaking her head.

She almost did, but Cato ended up killing the peacekeeper that attacked her. He was protecting her even then. Tears filled her eyes at the memory of him on that screen, looking as devastated as she felt. Annie looked panicked at her crying.

"You miss him a lot." Annie decided, stroking Katniss' cheek.

"I do." She nodded.

There was a sudden knock on the door and they both jumped a little. Katniss went to it to see Finnick. He looked up and immediately noticed her tears.

"I didn't realize you missed me that much, Katniss. If you want, I can stay with you in this little setup of yours." He said, gesturing around as he winked at her.

She laughed, appreciating Finnick in that moment. As flirty as he was and as uncomfortable he made her sometimes, he always knew how to make her laugh when she was sullen.

"Annie's in here." She said, opening the door further to reveal Annie, who'd stood up.

"It's time to go see Dr. Aurelius." He said, holding out a hand for her.

"Yes it is." She agreed, taking his hand and smiling at Katniss as she passed.

"I'll see you later." Katniss said with a wave.

"Yes." Annie nodded, waving back as they walked down the hall.

* * *

Kantiss stepped out into the hallway after closing and locking her door and made her way towards Cato's family's apartment. She felt like talking to them because they always knew what to say about her missing him. When she knocked on the door, it slid open easily, which automatically put her on guard. The apartment doors were always supposed to be closed and locked no matter if there was someone in there or not. When she saw the scarlet stain on the floor surrounding a lifeless body, she couldn't help but scream loudly.

**Author's Note: I know that's a mean place to leave off! I'm almost done with the next chapter so it won't be long. Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks to C.B. Weasley, vampiregoth28, LilyNightShade, S. Martz, 111, MissAmazing101, Dramione-Fan 17, Olive Monster, Hungergamesmaster99, Bobby, and my two anonymous reviewers for reviewing the last chapter and everyone who read. Love all of you!**

* * *

Katniss stared at the body for a few moments, her breaths coming out sharply. When she heard a sudden scream from another room, she leapt over the lifeless form of Cato's father and ran back to the bedroom. She immediately saw Prim and Ceporis huddled together on the floor. When she saw what they were staring at with horrified looks, she let out a gasp. A masked form was standing over a whimpering and bleeding Catri, who was collapsed on the bed.

"No!" she screamed, launching at the person.

He was taken by surprise as she threw him back into the wall. They began to wrestle around on the ground, Katniss taking care to avoid the slashing knife. She caught his arm and forced it away from her, taking the knife out of his hand in the process. His other hand shot out and wrapped around her throat tightly, causing her to choke loudly. Katniss heard another whimper and saw the color fading from Catri's face out of the corner of her eye. In a burst of anger at him hurting the little girl she'd grown so close to, Katniss slammed the knife into his chest and twisted it slowly, causing him to gurgle loudly and his hand to go limp and fall from her throat.

Tears were streaming down her face as blood spilled out of his chest and onto her hands that were still holding onto the knife.

"Katniss." Prim sobbed.

She turned to see her little sister looking between Catri and the now dead attacker.

"P-Prim. You have to run to the hospital. Go now. Tell mom I'm bringing Catri." Katniss said, touching the little girl's face.

She'd already passed out.

"Katniss is she…" Prim began.

"Go now!" she cried, satisfied to hear her sister running out.

Katniss turned to Ceporis and looked at him.

"You have to be brave, ok? Be like your big brothers. Pretend your Cato or Crucius and you're so brave. You have to follow me while I carry your sister to get help. Do you understand?" she asked, trying to stay strong for him.

She couldn't touch him or embrace him as blood covered her hands.

"Yes." He nodded, his lip trembling but he kept the tears at bay.

"Good boy." She nodded before turning to pick up Catri easily.

"We're gonna go fast, Ceporis. You have to keep up, ok?" Katniss asked.

"Ok." He said in a small voice.

"Daddy." He cried when he saw his father.

"Don't look at him, Ceporis. Just come outside with me." Katniss said, turning to look at him.

He nodded and held onto her shirt as they walked out of the room. Once they were in the hallway, Katniss sped up to a speed walk and Ceporis ran to keep up with her. People gave her alarmed looks as she booked it through the hallway. When she arrived at the hospital, she slammed through the door and screamed for help. They were waiting for her. She set Catri on the bed and watched as they began taking her clothes off and working on her stomach wound.

The son of a bitch stabbed her twice. Suddenly Katniss wished that she could kill that bastard again.

"Kat!" Ceporis cried, suddenly getting panicked.

She dropped to her knees, forgetting both Catri's and the attacker's blood that covered her torso, and pressed him to her chest.

"It's ok. Your little sister will be ok." She assured him at the same time she assured herself.

She gathered Prim in the hug as well as her little sister walked to her, thankful that they were unharmed.

"Prim you have to tell me what happened." Katniss said, looking into her eyes.

"Their dad found us and he was being nice. He went back to the apartment with us so that Catri and Ceporis could change into their swimsuits, he was going to take us swimming. The man in black was waiting for us with a knife. We ran into the bedroom like their dad told us to. We heard them fighting and then it stopped. Then the attacker grabbed Catri and stabbed her. That's when you came in." Prim said softly, tears streaming down her face.

"Shh. It's ok Prim. He's not gonna hurt you again." Katniss assured her, regretting that her sister had to see all of that, including Katniss killing the attacker without a second thought.

"Thank you." she cried, throwing herself into Katniss' arms.

"What?" she whispered, shocked by her sister's gratitude.

"Thank you for protecting us from that man." she whimpered, not letting go of Katniss.

Her mother appeared in front of her and she stood slowly.

"Katniss." She gasped, seeing the blood all over her.

"I'm not hurt, Mom." she croaked, suddenly realizing how sore her throat was from the man choking her.

"You're getting bruises on your throat." She said, taking Katniss to the side and feeling around her throat softly.

"What's going on with Catri?" she demanded.

"They're taking her into surgery. Don't worry, the wounds aren't that bad. We sent someone to find Caleesi, Crucius, and Ivory."

Katniss nodded, wincing when she hit a sore spot on her jugular.

"You should go get changed." Camellia said, stroking her hair.

"What about the attacker? And their dad? He's dead, I saw him dead. How did he get in here?" Katniss ranted, ignoring the pain in her throat.

"I don't know, Katniss. But you have to take care of yourself. Go take a shower and get this blood off of you." her mother said softly.

"I killed him, Mom." she whispered, her eyes widening as she realized what she did.

She'd killed someone for the first time in her life. And she'd wanted to kill him more than anything in that moment.

"You listen to me, Katniss Everdeen. He already killed one person and stabbed a little girl. He probably would have hurt Ceporis and your little sister if you hadn't stopped him. You did right by me and you did right by everyone else." Camellia assured her, putting her hands on her cheek.

Katniss nodded and turned to walk to her apartment. Even more people stared and whispered as she walked past. She heard them talking about the attack and she couldn't help but think that news spreaded fast. When she arrived at her apartment, she slid her clothes off and threw them in the trashcan, not even bothering to keep them. When she stepped in the hot shower, the water ran red as it the blood washed off of her. She scrubbed her body raw before climbing out. Then she braided her hair and put on a pair of black sweatpants and a dark grey long sleeved shirt with regular black sandals and then immediately went back to the hospital wing.

When she walked in, she saw Cato's family huddled together. Caleesi was crying softy while Crucius embraced her. Ivory was comforting both Laurel and Ceporis, who was cleaned up. Prim was hovering nearby with tears streaming down her face as well, also cleaned up of the blood that got on her when she hugged Katniss. They turned when the door opened and Caleesi let out a sob when she saw Katniss.

Guilt hit her as she saw their devastated faces. Cato's mother shocked her when she pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much for saving my little girl and boy." She cried into Katniss' shoulder.

She hugged her back hesitantly, unsure of what to say.

"I couldn't let him hurt them." She whispered, tears filling her eyes.

Caleesi drew away and immediately kissed her cheek.

"I cannot believe that you are so gracious. You've not only shown my son what it means to be loved but you saved my baby. You are always welcome in my family, Katniss." She said, tears still sliding down her cheeks.

Crucius yanked her into a hug as well.

"Thank you." he whispered and she could tell he was holding back tears as well.

"Oh your neck." Caleesi gasped, noticing the hand shaped bruises.

Katniss touched them lightly, inhaling sharply and wincing.

"They were worth it." she assured them.

Laurel wiggled out of Ivory's arms and ran over to Katniss, wrapping her arms around her leg. Katniss bent down and automatically picked her up. Laurel noticed the bruises and frowned, placing her chubby hand on them.

"Hurt." She said simply.

"I'll be ok." She assured the little girl.

Laurel leaned forward and placed a sloppy kiss on her neck before drawing away and laying her head on Katniss' shoulder.

"How is she doing?" she asked, looking in the direction they took Catri.

"They said that the wounds missed all of her organs and that she'll take a while to recover because she's so small but she will recover. The surgery didn't take long but they're letting her sleep for a while before we see her." Caleesi said softly.

"I'm so sorry about your husband and your father." Katniss said.

They nodded.

"He wasn't always a good person but he died protecting our children which is how I imagined he'd want to die even if he acted different." Caleesi said, leaning into Crucius' chest.

The door opened once again and Katniss looked up to see Coin entering the room with her two bodyguards. Their eyes met and Coin beckoned to her. Katniss handed Laurel back to Ivory and walked to the door.

"How did this happen?" she demanded.

"Come into the hall please, Miss Everdeen." Coin said simply, walking out of the room.

Katniss followed her and stood in front of her.

"The killer was one of the people we evacuated, an old trainer of Cato and Clove at the Academy. He never made a peep until now, came with us willingly during the evacuation and everything." Coin explained.

"Probably because he was planning this attack." Katniss growled.

"I guarantee you we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again." The president said calmly.

"It's already happened. A little girl is in there with two holes in her stomach because you weren't careful enough." Katniss accused her with narrowed eyes.

"I realize that, Miss Everdeen and we are very sorry for that." Coin said, not sounding at all apologetic.

Katniss stared at her, regretting what she was about to say.

"I need to ask you for something." She said.

Coin's eyebrow raised and she looked slightly amused

"I'm sure that I already know what your question is going to be but I'm going to let you ask anyways." The infuriating woman said.

"I need to go see Cato and the base and tell him about his little sister." Katniss said.

"Absolutely not." Coin said, looking thrilled to turn her down.

Katniss' eyes widened and she held back her fury.

"Why the hell not?" she growled, glaring at her.

"This base is on lockdown except for people who absolutely must leave. We can only assume that there are people out there who want to hurt you as well, Miss Everdeen. That is why I came to speak to you. You aren't allowed to go outside of this base at all. You must have a guard with you wherever you go."

Katniss' fingernails dug painfully into her palms as she formed two fists.

"Cato needs to know." She said through gritted teeth.

"I absolutely agree. I will allow for you to write a message to him and I will send it with a messenger of your choice." Coin said.

Katniss stared at her. She obviously intended for her to trust that the message was getting to Cato.

"Boggs." Katniss said, knowing that the man wouldn't betray her to Coin as she knew that he didn't even like Coin very much.

"Excellent choice. You may write your letter and give it to Boggs. I'll arrange for him to be sent to the base." Coin said simply.

It was wrong. Katniss needed to be there. She needed to be the one to tell him but she knew that Coin wouldn't allow it. Not after everything that Katniss had done to rebel against her. She stepped close to the woman, ignoring the glares of the guards.

"I promise you this now, you won't live to be president of Panem." She hissed softly, making sure that only the woman heard her.

Katniss turned to make her way back into the hospital. Before she opened the door, she looked back at the woman. To her ultimate pleasure, her eyes were wide and she was not smirking anymore. She knew that Katniss would keep that promise. Katniss could see, in her eyes, that it scared her more than she would ever admit.

* * *

**Author's Note: Review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks so much to S. Martz, Olive Monster, Rebacca, vampiregoth28, Dramione-fan 17, LilyNightShade, C.B. Weasley, Jenna Malfoy 20, MyNameIsJessie, MoonlightDiva, Midnight Rose 97, AliceW, 111, LinneaPike, and my anonymous reviewer. I love all of you and everyone who reads my story. You make it work writing. Thank you so much.**

* * *

She waited three days. Three miserable days. She handed her letter off to Boggs that day and watched him board a hovercraft. Katniss refused to go to training. As Caleesi still had Ceporis to take care of and Crucius and Ivory had Laurel, Katniss remained by Catri's side every second of the day except for when she went to her apartment to shower and to the tech room to learn more about disabling her cameras. She didn't trust many people at the moment outside of her family and Cato's family.

President Coin informed her that they took the attacker's wife into custody. Apparently they were trained for this to happen. They were supposed to lie in wait and, if they could escape, they were supposed to go back to the Capitol and tell them everything they knew. But Cato and his family willingly working with the rebels personally hurt her husband. He wanted revenge for their 'treason'. Katniss had a feeling that this information wasn't given to them willingly and a chill ran down her spine as she thought of the pain they most likely inflicted on that woman.

As a result of this, they were interrogating every single person who came from District 1 and 2 minus Cato's family. They wanted to interrogate them but Katniss threatened the guards with violence if they touched the grieving family and they backed off immediately. Catri still hadn't awoken from the surgery. The doctors explained that her body shut down to heal. It was something that often happened with young people who went through a traumatic experience.

But this didn't worry Katniss as much as the lack of response from Cato. She was sure that the second he would receive the letter, he would insist on being taken on a hovercraft to the bunker. But nothing happened. Katniss stared down at the fragile little girl and sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead on the bed, touching her hand.

"Katniss?" a small, hoarse voice said.

Her head snapped up and she saw a pair of tired blue eyes staring at her.

"Hey." She said, smiling as she stroked hair softly.

"The bad man." she whimpered, looking terrified.

"He's never going to hurt you again, Catri. He's gone." Katniss assured her, reaching over and pressing the button that they insisted she press if Catria woke up.

They weren't too happy with Katniss' insistence at being with the little girl all of the time. She basically told them to shove it up their ass and said that there was no way in hell the little girl was going to wake up alone. In that moment, she knew she did the right thing. Catri's eyes searched the room and she looked disappointed as tears filled her eyes.

"Are you in pain?" Katniss asked, looking down to see if she was bleeding from her stitched up wounds.

Catri shook her head but the tears still dripped down her face.

"Where's Cato?" she whimpered.

Katniss felt a stab of guilt and sadness.

"He's…" she said, not really know what to say.

"I want Cato." She said pleadingly, her hand gripping Katniss' with a surprising strength.

"I know." Katniss said, placing a kiss on her forehead as the doctor ran in.

Caleesi and Crucius, who looked relieved and thrilled, followed him closely.

"Hey baby girl!" Caleesi said, tears streaming down her face as she went to the other side of the bed.

Katniss stepped away to let the doctor check on her. Crucius threw his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her.

"We have you to thank for this, Katniss." He whispered, kissing her forehead.

"The first thing she did was ask for Cato." She murmured, her hands forming fists.

Crucius' smile dropped at the murderous look in her eye.

"Kat what are you gonna do?" he demanded, taking her upper arms in his hands.

"I'm going to go to Coin and ask her why the hell my boyfriend isn't here yet." Katniss growled, turning to run out of the room.

* * *

It took a lot of screaming and threats to finally be let in Coin's office. She was smirking as Katniss walked in with a red face and her hands still balled into fists.

"Hello Miss Everdeen." She said calmly, picking up a remote and turning on a screen.

"Why isn't he here?" she demanded, not in the mood for pleasantries.

"I can honestly say I have no idea." Coin said, pressing buttons as she looked at the screen.

"You are lying!" Katniss shouted.

"Now I don't appreciate being accused of that. I knew you would be here and I have something to show you. It's proof that I did not have anything to do with Mr. Selkirke's absence." She looked at the screen, anger rushing through every vein in her body, making her tremble with the emotion.

When the image flashed on the screen, she stared at his face. Coin smirked and pressed play, beginning the video. Katniss saw at the bottom that it was from a few days ago, the very day that Catri was stabbed and Katniss sent the letter. Cato was walking down the hall alone, running his fingers through his hair. He turned as if he was called and Katniss squinted as Boggs came into view. He handed him the letter and Coin paused it.

"Just so I don't get accused of switching out the letters." She said, pressing a few buttons that zoomed in on the screen.

When it was close enough, Katniss saw her own messy looping handwriting that she scratched on the envelope. It looked like it wasn't tampered with and Katniss knew that this had to be her letter. When Cato began to open it, Boggs turned and walked off, looking stone faced as usual. Cato quickly scanned the letter and Katniss watched, expecting anger or sadness, a shout of fury at least. But there was nothing. When he got to the end, he smiled. Smiled!

"What the hell did you do?" she growled, turning to Coin.

"I did nothing, Miss Everdeen. You told me that you trust Boggs and you watched him get on the hovercraft with the envelope you handed him only moments before. How could I have done anything?" Coin asked.

She thought about it for a moment. Was Boggs different than she thought he was? Did she pick the wrong person to help her?

"I can see the gears turning in your head. May I offer another option?" Coin asked.

Katniss glared at her but didn't say anything.

"You were wrong about him." Coin said, pointing to the television screen where Cato was still smiling.

Katniss stared at the image before turning to sneer at Coin.

"This is not going to work. You are not going to rip us apart like this. If you wanted to do it, you should have chosen a better way than his sister. He loves her and wouldn't want anything to happen to her." she snapped.

"Are you sure? How long have you really known him? Didn't you see him before the Hunger Games? Did he seem like a family man to you? Like someone who would protect his sister? Or did he seem like someone who would sacrifice her to bring the Capitol down on the rebellion?" Coin asked.

Katniss scoffed and rolled her eyes. But then she looked at the screen and realized what bothered her about it. It was that smile. It wasn't his usual loving smile. It was a smirk. But not his cocky, I know you're attracted to me smirk. It was the same smirk he shot at her when he held her against that tree so long ago during the Games after she ran off with the bow and arrows. After he dragged her down it and pressed his body against hers. It was the smirk that screamed that he won and he would continue to win.

Her blood ran cold through her body, calming her anger and bringing something else. Fear.

"Cato wouldn't do that." she insisted, shaking her head stubbornly.

"I'm going to defer to you on this, Miss Everdeen. After all, you know him best." Coin said, her voice obviously mocking her.

Katniss swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry and her hands shaking for a different reason. She had to get back to Catri.

"He hasn't asked to come back to the bunker. They're all coming home in two weeks for a family visit. I planned on sending you back with them, as your training will be mostly done with. I suppose that you can ask him why he did not insist on coming home to be with his dear sister." Coin said.

Katniss turned and looked at her with shocked eyes. She was enjoying this, that much was clear. But what would she have gained from keeping Cato away from Catri?

"You're dismissed, Miss Everdeen." She said with a flick of her hand as she turned off the screen.

She walked out of the office in a trance-like state, millions of thoughts running through her head. When she reached the hallway, she began to run. She ran and ran until her legs were burning with the effort. When she reached the forest room, she stood in the middle unsure of what to do. Before she knew it, her fist was connected with a tree, followed by the other. She was suddenly kicking and punching at the tree with tears streaming down her face as she screamed into the air.

Strong hands suddenly yanked her away from the tree and she collapsed to the ground wailing loudly, pulling her knees to her chest. She saw a flash of bronze hair and tanned skin.

"What the hell, Katniss?" Finnick demanded with wide eyes.

"I don't know what's happening." She cried, her whole body heaving with sobs.

She saw Finnick look over his shoulder and caught sight of Annie standing there looking scared.

"Go back to our apartment." He insisted, knowing that Annie probably shouldn't see Katniss' breakdown.

Annie shook her head and walked to Katniss softly. Finnick watched with surprise as she pried Katniss' bleeding hands away from her face and began whispering comforting things to her until she got her to stand up, just like he did when Annie was having flashbacks. He followed the girls as they walked out of the forest room and to the hospital wing. By the time they got there, Katniss' wails were quieted down to soft sobs.

Her mother ran to her and, without question, immediately began cleaning up her hands.

"What happened?" the blonde haired woman asked Finnick as Annie kept soothing Katniss.

"I have no idea. We saw Katniss running through the hall and into that forest place. We heard her screaming and found her slammed her hands into a tree over and over again shouting nonsense things." Finnick explained.

Camellia sighed as she wrapped Katniss' badly scraped hands up in bandages.

"It's all the stress of training and the attack. I think it's gotten to her." suddenly Katniss' head snapped up.

"Mom?" she said in a small voice, her silver eyes wide as tears still ran down her face.

"I'm here, Katniss." She said, putting her hand on her cheek.

"Is Cato bad?" she whimpered.

"What?" her mother asked, shocked at the question.

Katniss chose that moment to pass out, Finnick barely catching her when she slid off of the hospital bed.

**Author's Note: I know this is a short chapter but I'm already working on the next. Just so I can give you a little comfort, yes Coin is manipulating Katniss and no I'm not making Cato bad. I know I shouldn't be making Coin so evil but I really just hate the bitch. The good news is Cato is coming back next chapter. Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks so much to MoonlightDiva, I Am District 12's Diamond, Midnight Rose 97, AliceW, CandyFreak211, Dramione-fan 17, LilyNightShade, and my anonymous reviewer for reviewing the last chapter.**

**Warning: There are lemons in this chapter. Yes it's Cato and Katniss. I will warn you when they start and stop. Once again, they're not actually having sex. But they are doing something. Just to clarify, they aren't exactly minor lemons so I clearly marked where they start and end so you can easily skip them.**

* * *

It took about a day to bring Katniss out of a catatonic state. She didn't say a word, instead going to Catri's room and embracing the girl tightly. No matter how many questions she was asked, she didn't answer anything. The only person she would talk to was Catri. But when the little girl asked about Cato again, Katniss froze up and ran out of the room, alarming both the little girl and the others that were in the room. Cinna found her in her room huddled in a corner of the dark closet.

"What's going on with you?" he sighed, sitting next to her.

"Cato didn't come." She whimpered, staring straight ahead at the wall.

"You sent him a letter, didn't you?" he asked, taking Katniss' cold hand.

She nodded, not moving her eyes still.

"Coin showed me a video. He got the letter. It had to be my letter. It hadn't been opened or anything. He smiled, Cinna. Smiled." She whispered, scratching at her bandages.

He pulled her hands away from each other and leaned forward to catch her eye.

"You know that I'm still betting on you, right?" he asked, reaching out to stroke her cheek.

Her eyes shone with tears as she nodded. If she couldn't trust Cinna who could she trust?

"You can't know what happened with Cato until you talk to him about it. I know he's coming home soon so you need to talk to him. Don't do anything rash or you'll lose the chance to find out the truth." He said, knowing her tendency to act before she thought about it.

"What possible excuse can he have?" she asked, sounding afraid of the answer.

"You can't know." Cinna repeated.

"I just keep thinking about that poor girl in there. That poor little girl who just wants her big brother. Then I think about the attack and how I found her bleeding and I didn't even hesitate before I killed that man." Katniss said in a soft voice.

"You were protecting Catria, Prim, and Ceporis. You did exactly what you should have done." Cinna assured her.

"Every time I close my eyes I feel the knife sliding into his heart. I hear him choking on his own blood and I see the blood all over my hands. He's the first person I ever killed, Cinna." She whimpered, tugging at her long braid.

"I know." He said, gathering her in his arms.

"Tell me that everything will be ok. I don't care if it's a lie. I just need someone to lie to me." she said against his chest, her arms wrapping around him.

"Everything is going to be ok." He sighed, stroking her hair.

She drew away from him and stared at him with her bright silver eyes.

"And you know what?" he asked, tucking a fallen curl behind her ear.

"What?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I'm not lying. You are a strong, beautiful woman. You have taken everything this world has thrown at you and defeated it with a strength and grace that many people don't possess. You have been hurt many times and yet you still love the people who hurt you. I know you're having doubts about Cato but I'm willing to bet that deep down, you still love him. Just like you were so angry with your father for abandoning you but you still found it within yourself to forgive him. So yes, Katniss Everdeen, everything will be ok." He assured her.

Her answering smile was definitely not faked but he could tell that there were still doubts in her mind about everything. He did not want to be in Cato's shoes. If only there were someone to help that boy because when Katniss got her hands on him, there wasn't much anyone could do to quell her anger.

* * *

For the next week, Katniss remained firmly at Catri's side. She was there when Catri was finally allowed to walk holding the little girl's hand along with Caleesi. She snuck Catri out of the hospital to let her hang out in the gardens, much to the doctors' annoyance and everyone else's amusement. No one, even the children, dared to ask her about Cato. But they could tell that his continue absence was taking a toll on her. Sometimes they would look at her and see such a fury in her eyes that would scare President Snow. And everyone thanked whomever they could thank that the girl on fire's anger wasn't directed at them.

A few people thought about writing Cato and warning him of what was happening but they didn't want to take the chance of Katniss killing them in their sleep. After all, she knew where they all slept and she recently learned to pick the locks in the bunker. Finally, it was a few days until the soldiers were due to arrive. Everyone around Katniss began to relax, as they knew that Katniss' anger would soon be released towards a specific person.

But one of the group wasn't quite willing to wait that long. Finnick was tired of the death glares that Katniss was sending everyone except for the little girl in the hospital bed. So finally he dragged her, quite literally kicking and screaming, to the training room and shoved her onto one of the mats.

"You are scaring people!" he said, not flinching away from the knives that she was sending at him through her eyes.

"Fuck off!" she shouted, standing up.

"You need to release some of that pent up anger." He said with a smirk.

"For the last time, Odair, I'm not having sex with you!" Katniss screamed.

"Not what I was suggesting, cupcake." He said, throwing a pair of boxing gloves at her.

To say that he was taken off guard when she launched at him without putting them on was an understatement. He was immediately lying on the ground with her leg wrapped around his throat and her hands holding his arms above his head. Her other trainers were shocked that she was able to move that fast. She'd been improving leaps and bounds throughout their training but she'd never been quite that good. So now they knew the secret to getting a super soldier out of Katniss. Get her good and pissed off.

"Don't move. I could snap your neck." she growled at Finnick, tightening her leg around his neck.

"Care to let me go?" he said casually as if they were having tea rather than in a situation where he could easily die.

Katniss growled as she pushed him away and stood, chest heaving as her eyes glared at Finnick. Her pupils were so dilated that they almost made her eyes look completely black.

"Care for more?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

She didn't wait for his answer before she turned to walk out of the room. Suddenly she was picked up and thrown into air. Her shriek filled the room before she splashed into the pool. Katniss surfaced sputtering water and glaring up at Haymitch, who casually took a drink out of his flask. Finnick was choking back laughter at her situation.

"You need to cool off, sweetheart." He said, pointing at her.

Katniss flipped him off before disappearing under the water. They all watched as she swam around slowly, her eyes closed as she breathed deeply before diving under the water. She didn't even care that her clothes were soaked and most likely weighing her down. Her calm expression was a visible improvement. It didn't last long, however, as she climbed out of the pool thirty minutes later soaked, wrinkled, and glaring at Finnick and Haymitch.

They heard a giggle from behind them as she stomped out of the training room. They looked to see Annie laughing. Finnick thought she might have been having a flashback but her eyes were clear and she was obviously laughing at them.

"What?" Haymitch growled.

Finnick shot him a look.

"You two might have just put yourselves above Coin on Katniss' hit list." She informed them, patting Finnick's arm before walking out to calm the angered girl down.

* * *

When the day came, no one wanted to be anywhere near Katniss. Luckily, she felt the same. The only person she allowed near her was Prim. She knew that she wouldn't snap at her little sister. Prim stayed the night with her, curled up in the big bed. Then they got up and took showers before Prim made breakfast, knowing that Katniss would likely end up burning the apartment down if she tried. Then she really would be the girl on fire. The thought, sadly enough, made both the girls break out into hysterical giggles when Katniss pointed it out.

"Can I do your hair?" Prim asked as they ate their pancakes.

"Of course." Katniss said, smiling with difficulty.

Prim grinned happily and sat Katniss down on the floor of her bedroom before curling her hair with the hot circular iron. The older girl couldn't help but wince. She really didn't want to get burned and Prim was talking excitedly about being able to help out in the hospital wing. She was afraid that her little sister would get distracted and clamp her ear down in the iron instead of a lock of hair. Luckily they got through it without any incidents and Katniss sighed with relief. Her hair did look beautiful and Prim looked extremely proud of it.

"Thanks Little Duck." She said, kissing her forehead.

There was a knock on the apartment door and Katniss went to open it unwillingly. Cinna was standing there with his make up kit in his hands.

"I've been summoned by a certain little blonde." He said, holding up his hands in surrender as Katniss' eyes narrowed.

"No one can resist her." Katniss sighed, letting him in.

She surprisingly found it relaxing as Cinna and Prim took turns putting make up on her face. When she looked in the mirror, her mouth dropped open slightly. It constantly surprised her what Cinna could make her look like. But Prim was just as good at it.

"Might I suggest this?" Cinna asked, holding out an outfit for her.

She actually smiled at him. It was like he always knew what outfit to put on her. It was a pair of black tightly fitting jeans with a dark purple loose v-neck sweater and a pair of low-heeled black ankle boots. She'd worn them before and decided that they were comfortable. She'd even run in them before and climbed her tree in them. It was perfect.

"It's fantastic." She said, taking the clothes from him and putting them on in the closet.

The three of them walked to Cato's family's room. Catri was finally allowed to leave but she was put on bed rest. The entire family was thrilled that Cato was coming home that day. None of them held animosity towards him for not coming. As Crucius explained it, he was gonna get enough of a shitstorm from Katniss when he arrived that the rest of them might as well forgive him. Katniss rolled her eyes but knew it was probably true. It probably also had something to do with the fact that they'd lost one person from their family and almost lost another.

After hanging out with them for an hour, Katniss was getting too impatient. She excused herself and went to her room, where she paced nonstop for another fifteen minutes until her mother and father entered the room to try to calm her down. When the door opened to reveal Haymitch, she knew that they were there. She didn't realize that she had her silver bow and arrows that always remained by her apartment door in her hands until she was running towards the entrance to the bunker with people yelling after her.

* * *

Everyone was getting tired of Cato and he knew it. He was practically vibrating on the way to the bunker in District 13. Clove finally reached out and slammed her hand down on his shaking leg.

"We know you're excited but for the love of everything stop fucking shaking." She growled, causing everyone else to burst into laughter.

Cato glared around at them but he couldn't deny that he was thrilled to be going back home. As the hovercraft began to descend, his fingers began fumbling with his seatbelt.

"You're hopeless, man." Marvel said, shaking his head.

"Like you have any room to talk." Cato shot back, gesturing to him and Glimmer's joined hands.

"He's right." Clove said with a disgusted look at them.

"Hey man." Cato turned to look at Gale, who was holding out his hand.

He took it and they shook hands before letting go.

"Promise us that you'll at least get into a private room before you start ripping each other's clothes off." Gale said, causing everyone else to nod in agreement as they laughed at his wide eyes.

Cato's face broke out into a grin as they walked down the ramp and out of the hovercraft.

"I can't make any promises." He chuckled, turning to see what awaited him.

He certainly didn't expect for an arrow to go whizzing by him and to look up and see his girlfriend aiming another arrow at him, her dark hair flying in the wind and her silver eyes filled with fury.

* * *

Katniss heard people catch up with her and looked to see her trainers, her family, Crucius and Ivory, and some of the other families of the people who were returning, including Gale's family. They all stood a little bit away from the entrance eyeing her weapon as if they knew to avoid the explosion of activity that was about to happen.

"You may wanna keep the kiddos inside. I've heard this girl's mouth when she's angry. And she's a bit more than angry right now." Haymitch said to Hazelle who laughed softly.

Katniss, of course, shot a glare at him. When the ramp opened, Katniss didn't waste any time before running up the surface. The hovercraft opened to reveal the people she knew spilling out. He was there laughing with Gale. Gale of all people! The arrow was strung and released before she thought twice about it. Of course she didn't aim to strike, she missed on purpose. But it almost grazed his cheek as it passed. The second arrow was in place as everyone froze.

"You bastard!" she screamed, all of her anger flooding her body as she pulled the string back and held her position.

All of the returning soldiers were wearing identical shocked expressions. But no one was more surprised than Cato, who held his hands out in front of him.

"Katniss, what are you doing?" he asked, approaching her slowly.

She released the arrow and it buried into the ground at his feet, stopping him in place. The bow was never meant to serve as an actual weapon. It certainly helped her with her anger. She threw it to the side along with the quiver of arrows and began stomping towards him, hearing the people spilling out of the bunker to witness what was happening.

"You stupid, fucking bastard!" Katniss shouted, her hand flying out and punching him in the jaw and making her whimper with pain as the deep cuts from the tree still weren't healed.

She didn't stop there though, ignoring the pain in her hand where her old wounds reopened and began to drip blood. She began punching, slapping, kicking, and screaming 'two weeks' and 'fucking asshole' and 'I will kill you' the whole time. When he finally captured her wrists in his hands, everyone was quiet and she glared up at him with tears streaming down her face.

"Two fucking weeks." She whimpered, going limp and collapsing into his chest.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, shocked at her behavior as he looked up at the rest of the people who came out of the bunker.

None of them had made any move to stop Katniss, as if they knew that this was coming and she had to get it out of her system.

"I am talking about your sister lying in a fucking hospital bed crying for her brother." she shouted, getting her strength back as she shoved away from him.

He launched out and grabbed her arms.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, fear suddenly striking him.

"I sent you a letter!" Katniss cried.

He stared at her.

"I got your letter. It didn't say a fucking thing about Catri." He said, looking panicked.

"She was stabbed!" Katniss wailed, beating on his chest with her bleeding fists.

Cato froze, staring at her. When he looked up at Crucius, his brother nodded solemnly. Katniss finally lost her strength and collapsed into his chest. He automatically held her up, crushed to his chest as she cried softly. He beckoned Crucius over, his good mood gone.

"What the fuck happened?" he growled in a low voice.

Crucius quickly launched into an explanation of what happened. Everyone filtered past them and hugged their own family members before turning to pay attention to the two boys with the sobbing brunette in between them. When he relayed what Katniss told them happened, Cato looked down at her. No wonder she was such a mess. He began stroking her hair softly.

"She said she sent me a letter." He said, attempting to keep his voice even.

"She did. It explained everything. She sent it with Boggs the day it happened." He explained.

Cato looked back at the older man who was departing the hovercraft with murderous eyes. Boggs shook his head slowly, mouthing 'later'. He instantly knew that there was more to this and vowed to confront the man later as to why he didn't get the letter that Katniss sent. If he knew, if he'd been told, he would have returned to the bunker. He would have been there for his sister. He would have been there for the devastated girl in his arms.

"I want to see her." he said, bending down and picking Katniss up bridal style.

"She's in our apartment." Crucius nodded, taking Ivory's hand as they turned to walk inside.

When Cato passed Katniss' family, her mother and father nodded at him and Prim ran to catch up with them.

"I'll go too." She said in a small voice, looking up at her sister with concerned eyes.

About halfway there, Katniss lifted her head off of his chest to look around.

"You can put me down now." She said softly, pushing away from his chest.

Cato looked down at her and she was staring straight ahead, refusing to look at him.

"You can go ahead, we'll be there in a moment." He said, nodding at Prim, Ivory, and Crucius.

They turned to walk away and he slowly let Katniss down on her feet. She tried to push away but he wouldn't budge.

"The letter I got didn't say that. It wasn't even in your handwriting." He said, holding her close as she struggled with him.

Her breath caught in her throat and she froze in his arms.

"Why?" she whimpered.

"I don't know." He muttered, getting angry at the mere thought of it.

"I was so angry with you." she whispered, still not turning to face him.

"Please look at him." he said, stroking her hair.

Katniss slowly turned and looked up at him with watery eyes.

"You were right to be angry. I would have been angry if it was the other way around and it was Prim." He said, stroking her cheek softly.

Katniss nodded and bit her lip.

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have attacked you." she murmured, placing her hands on his chest.

He gasped when he finally noticed the deep gashes.

"What the hell happened?" he demanded, taking them in his bigger hands, trying to be gentle as he could.

"I had a run in with a tree." She said with a serious expression, looking at them as well.

"What?" he asked, a laugh escaping from his throat.

"Coin showed me a video of you reading my letter. You… you smiled. She tried to convince me that you were behind Catri's attack." Katniss mumbled.

A shiver ran through his body.

"You didn't…" he cut off.

"I never believed her. I wondered if maybe I was too gullible and easy to trust. But I never really even entertained the thought. I had my mind made up about you a long time ago and that bitch isn't ever going to change it." Katniss said, looking up at him.

He smiled down at her, putting his hand on her cheek.

"Thank you." he said, his voice full of emotion.

"We need to get to Catri. She's really been looking forward to seeing you." Katniss said, turning to pull him towards his family's apartment.

"Wait." He said, holding his ground as he pulled her back.

When she looked up at him quizzically, he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too." She returned, burying her face in his chest.

As his arms wrapped around her body, she felt all the anger melt away. As much as she wanted to kill whoever kept Cato away from his sister, she was secretly glad they were to blame for this. Because the alternative was too horrible to think of.

* * *

When they walked into the room, Ceporis squealed and jumped into Cato's arms happily. Caleesi walked to Katniss, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you for not killing my son." She whispered.

Katniss laughed but they could tell that her heart was still heavy. She watched as Cato walked to where Catri was lying on the couch grinning at him. Her arms encircled his neck when she knelt next to him. Katniss almost wanted to slip out of the room and wallow alone. How could she have ever thought that Cato wouldn't run all the way from the army base to be with his sister in her time of need?

She pressed herself against the wall and tried to fade into the background as Cato's family surrounded him. Unfortunately Prim knew exactly what she was trying to do and walked to her, placing her arms around her.

"Are you better?" she asked.

"I'm not angry anymore." Katniss said.

She thought back to her conversation with Cinna. He told her not to do any rash with her anger. She's pretty sure that what she just did could be counted as rash. When Cato looked up at her and beckoned her over, she simply averted her eyes and stared at her shoes. She wasn't angry anymore. No, now she was worse. She was ashamed. When Catri fell asleep, she'd been sleeping a lot lately and she had worked up a lot of excitement that day, Cato hugged everyone in his family and then walked to Katniss.

She looked up hesitantly, ready to see blame in his eyes. She was surprised to see him holding a hand out to her. She took it slowly and he led her out of the apartment. Neither of them spoke as they walked through the hallway. Katniss led him slowly to her room, much to his confusion. When they reached the door, she opened it and allowed him inside. He looked around with confusion as she closed and locked the door.

"They gave me my own apartment." She said quietly, looking down at her hands.

"That's nice." He nodded, trailing his hand over her couch.

Katniss bit her lip and looked up to see his brilliant blue eyes staring into hers.

"The letter told me that you loved me and missed me. Also that it was dangerous for people from my District at the bunker and that you were protecting my family." He said.

She nodded.

"That's why you smiled." She guessed.

"Smiled?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"They get the video feed from the army base here. Coin showed me the video of you getting the letter. I thought it was my letter explaining what happened to Catri. You smiled when you finished reading it. That's part of what angered me." she explained.

"Oh. I can see how that would be confusing." He nodded.

She felt the shame filling her up once again.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I made a scene and I'm sorry that I was here and you weren't. I'm sorry that you couldn't be with your sister while she healed." She whimpered, her arms hugging her stomach.

"Don't be." He said, stepping forward and lifting her chin.

"I'm glad you were here. You saved my sister's life. The letter wasn't wrong. You protected my family. And I'm glad you got mad as hell at me, as strange as it sounds. You know why?" he asked.

"Why?" she said, not knowing what he could possible be thinking.

"Because you love me so much that you hold me to a high standard. You see me better than most and you were so angry because you thought that I'd failed to reach that standard. It gives me something to strive to. It holds me accountable and that's exactly what I need." He explained, stroking her cheek.

"It makes me sound like a bitch who doesn't appreciate who you are." She argued, tears filling her eyes once again.

"No, it makes you sound like someone who wants me to be the best I can be." He corrected her.

She sighed and dropped her head. He held her close to him and stroked her long, silky hair.

"I'm sorry I attacked you. I know that's not exactly the welcome you thought you would get." Katniss said.

Cato let out a bark of laughter, surprising her and making her jump.

"I actually should have been expecting that." he said, holding her face in his hands.

"Because you constantly take me by surprise. I should have been expecting for you to do it again. Though I guess I didn't think it would be so dramatic. With the arrow and everything. Good aim, by the way." he said, pleased when the corners of her mouth lifted.

"What if I was aiming for your head?" she asked, biting back a grin.

"Well then, slightly bad aim." He said, leaning forward and placing a kiss on her nose.

She let out a peal of laughter and he grinned at her. As they stared at each other, they both grew serious and the situation suddenly crashed down on them. They'd been without each other for a long time. Now they were together. And they were as close as they could possibly be. One thought went through both of their minds. This needed to be rectified immediately. Their lips crashed together at the same time, making them stumble slightly and wrap their arms around each other.

Cato lifted her and she naturally wrapped her legs around her waist, kicking her boots off as she did so.

"Bedroom." She mumbled against his lips.

"I don't know where it is." He grunted.

She gestured with her hand and he walked to it easily, not taking his lips off of hers. When they stumbled into it, he pulled back to look around.

"This is nice." He commented, his eyes falling on the large bed.

"Yeah whatever. Bed now." Katniss commanded, bringing his lips back to hers.

They collapsed onto it and Katniss immediately straddled him, her hair falling in a curtain around them as she continued to kiss him passionately. When she sat up, her hands began yanking at the black shirt he had tucked into the black cargo pants that made up the army uniform. When she finally got it over his head, she threw it to another part of the room and began placing kisses all over his chiseled chest and stomach.

**LEMONSLEMONSLEMONSLEMONS**

His body shook underneath her and his hands ran through her hair. When her lips drifted lower and lower he began breathing even heavier. It wasn't until her mouth opened and her tongue circled his navel that his eyes popped open.

"Shit! Katniss!" he growled, her actions sending shocks through his body.

She grinned slyly up at him before continuing her assault on his torso. Last time they'd gotten this close, she hadn't been near this confident or daring. He liked it. Scratch that. He loved it. When her hands fumbled with his pants and began sliding them down, he thought for sure that this was just a dream. Unfortunately for him and Marvel, who was his bunkmate, he had many of those dreams at the base.

When he was in just his boxers, Katniss crawled back up his body to hover over him.

"You're in far too many clothes." He said huskily, his hands laying on her hips as he began to inch her shirt up.

Katniss shoved him backwards and held his wrists above his head.

"You will watch." She whispered in his ear, nipping at it before sitting up again.

God he loved this. He watched with hungry eyes as her hands drifted up her thighs and to the bottom of her shirt. Then then drifted up her flat stomach, pulling the sweater up. Then it was thrown over her head to reveal a hunter green lace bra. He groaned and fought against his urge to reach out and touch her. Her sudden commanding stature stopped him from disobeying her.

When her hands reached around to unclasp her bra, his eyebrows practically flew up into his hairline and his eyes widened dramatically. She slowly slid the straps down, teasing him with a glint in her eyes. When she threw it across the room, his eyes roamed her chest with fervor. Katniss' confidence faded a little as she wondered if she should cover herself up.

She didn't know why, but she'd suddenly gotten so hot and they ended up in the bed. She just followed her instincts until now.

"You're beautiful." he murmured, pulling himself up to a sitting position so their chests were pressed together.

When his mouth found hers, she responded with enthusiasm, once again spurred on by his breathy compliment. When his hands began stroking up and down her bare sides, she shivered and her head fell to his shoulder. She placed kisses on it until his hands moved to stroke the underside of her breasts. She arched her back as he moved ever closer to her hardened peaks.

When one of his hands drifted over one of them, she whimpered and threw her head back, giving him a perfect view of them. Finally he lowered his mouth to one and she cried out his name when he took one of the peaks into his mouth. His thumb lightly brushed against the other one. Katniss was dangerously conscious of the liquid pooling in her underwear and his arousal pressing into her heated core. As his tongue teased her, she squirmed on his lap and pleaded for him to continue. When he pulled away to kiss her once again, he pulled her back down to where he was laying down and she was laying against him.

Her hips rocked against his and he groaned into her mouth. When she pulled away, she sat up and began dragged her hands down his torso, giving her a fantastic view of her own bare chest. When she climbed off of him, he felt her loss and sat up to drag her back. She grinned at him as she unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her lean legs, revealing panties that matched her bra. She held her hand out and he took it, pulling her towards him to straddle him once more.

When her heat pressed against his manhood, they both moaned at the same time. His hands slid down her body to rest on her hips and he suddenly turned them over, driving his hips into hers.

"Am I in control now?" he asked, brushing his hand over her face.

She bit her lip and shook her head before wrapping her hand around him through his briefs. He groaned and threw his head back, leaving his neck exposed for her to begin kissing all over. His hand dipped into her soaked panties and slowly stroked her folds, causing her hips to thrust up towards him and her teeth to nip at his neck. When her hand slid into his shorts and began teasing his tip, he almost collapsed on top of her. She began to stroke him and his head fell to her chest.

"Oh fuck, Katniss." He said huskily, his breath washing over her breasts.

When her hips lifted and grinded against him he pushed away and scrambled downwards, practically ripping her panties off in his enthusiasm. Katniss gasped and he looked up to see if he'd moved too quickly or done something wrong. Her eyes were filled with lust and they practically begged for him to continue. His eyes drifted downwards and he slowly spread her legs out, admiring the apex of her thighs. She bit her lip harder, wondering what thoughts were going through his mind.

"So beautiful." he murmured before placing kisses up her thigh.

Her heart rate picked up even more as she wondered if he was really going to do **that**. Katniss groaned when he breathed on her core once before kissing down her other thigh.

"Please Cato." She pleaded, staring deep into his eyes.

"Well how can I resist you when you use that voice on me?" he said, kissing back up and placing a kiss right over her sweet spot.

When his tongue flicked out to taste, she arched her back and dug her hips into the bed.

"More." She whimpered, her hands going to his head as she cried out when he began using his tongue on her.

His fingers slid into her, stretching her but not altogether uncomfortably. His tongue circled and teased her bundle of nerves as his fingers easily found that sensitive spot inside of her. It didn't take long for her to reach her high as he pleasured her. He found extreme satisfaction in the fact that she practically screamed his name as she writhed underneath him. He pulled away and grinned at her as she lay on the bed breathing heavily.

"Doing all right?" he asked.

"Come here." She breathed, pulling him down and kissing him passionately, not even caring that she could taste herself on his tongue.

Before he knew it, they were once again flipped over and his boxers were being pulled off. At first he was hesitant. He knew that they weren't quite ready to have sex. But when Katniss began kissed down his chest and stomach, he knew she had something else in mind. Her hand grasped the base of his manhood as she looked up at him. Her tongue flicked out over the tip before circling it twice. Then she took him in her mouth.

"Fuck!" he growled, unable to keep his hips from jerking up at the feeling.

She bobbed up and down a few times to get both of them used to it. Then she took him as deep as she could and he couldn't even speak anymore, instead letting out animalistic grunts and moans. It wasn't going to take long, he knew that much. It had been far too long and her mouth fell too good.

"Katniss… baby I'm close." He grunted, pushing at her shoulders. She flicked his hands away and continued to pleasure him.

He was shocked but it didn't last long as he began to swell in her mouth. He let out a shout as he released, vaguely realizing that she was swallowing every drop. When he collapsed back and she released him from her mouth, he shook his head, unable to believe that just happened.

"Are you ok?" she asked in a small voice.

He looked up at her to see her looking unsure of herself.

"I am a thousand times better than ok." He said, reaching up and gathering her in his arms, laying her head against his chest.

"That thing with your tongue? I liked that." she informed him, causing him to chuckle.

"I'm very glad. I like the thing you did with yours as well." he said, stroking her hair softly.

**LEMONSOVERLEMONSOVERLEMONSOV ER**

"Do you want to go back and see your sister?" Katniss asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Nah. Mom said she'll be sleeping for the rest of the day and I told them that I wanted to spend a while with my gorgeous girlfriend." He said, placing a kiss to her forehead.

Katniss smiled up at him, reaching out and stroking his lips.

"Well in that case, I have something to show you." she said, rolling off the bed and pulling the robe that was thrown on the ground from that morning after her shower.

Cato found his boxers and threw them on before she beckoned him into her closet.

"Wow, do you really need this many clothes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at all of them.

"Don't even get me started." She warned him before pulling him to the back of the room.

"What is this?" he asked, looking at the clothes with wide eyes.

"They're yours. Cinna did this… for us. I mean, unless you don't want…" Katniss trailed off, unsure of herself suddenly.

He grinned and picked her up in a hug, kissing her passionately.

"Of course I want." He said, burying his face in her hair.

She grinned and basked in the glow of the fact that the day was going much better than how it started. Catri was going to be just fine and she was with her love again.

"I love you." she said, pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder.

"I love you too." He murmured, turning to kiss her once again.

**Author's Note: I hope you liked it! And I hope the lemons scene wasn't vulgar. I tried to make it still tasteful. Review please! By the way, Katniss' outfit is on my profile.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks to Hungergamesmaster99, MissAmazing101, Olive Monster, Dramione-Fan17, Dirty Mind, S. Martz, Mo, sundragons9, C.B. Weasley, Forget-To-Breathe, Abigail25, Marisa Mellark, Sarah the Ripper, Rebecca, and my guest reviewer for reviewing! Love all of you and every single wonderful reader!**

**Ok so this chapter is kind of a fluffy chapter. Not too much story development or angst. Sorry!**

* * *

When a thump resounded around the room, Katniss groaned and buried her head further into the pillow, reaching out to see what was going on. When her hands came in contact with an empty yet still warm other side of the bed, she let out a whiny noise.

"Son of a bitch." She heard Cato growl and her eyes finally slid open as she scooted to towards the noise.

When she peered over the bed, she found him sitting there with half closed eyes and shivering at the sudden draft of cold air that hit him outside of the warm bed he'd just been in.

"Why are you there?" she mumbled, confused and still half asleep.

"I didn't mean to be." Cato said, his voice even more confused than hers was.

"Well come back." Katniss murmured, flopping back over to where she was and curling up underneath the thick blankets.

After a few moments of no movement, she groaned and sat up, crawling over to see him still staring up at the bed with a befuddled expression. She sighed and slid out of the bed, grabbing his arms to pull him up to a standing position.

"Back in bed." She whined, pushing him back to lie down.

He grabbed onto her hands at the last second and brought her down with him, splayed across his chest dramatically.

"You're warm." He mumbled, burying his face in her tangled hair.

"Mmm." Was her only reply as she shifted to where her head and chest were pressed against his torso and her legs were entangled with his legs.

Then she pulled the comforter and sheets over them and sighed with satisfaction as they were once again wrapped in a heat filled cocoon of thick blankets.

"Why'd you fall out of bed?" she asked, stroking his bare stomach softly with her fingertips, causing his muscles to twitch under her touch.

"I just rolled the wrong way. I'm used to my bed being up against a wall so I wouldn't roll out of it." he explained, his voice still filled with tiredness.

"Well don't do it again." Katniss ordered, closing her eyes and pressing a kiss just over his heart.

"Yes ma'am." He replied, closing his eyes as well.

* * *

Three hours later, a persistent banging on the apartment door woke them up.

"Make it go away." Cato said, disobeying his own command as he pulled Katniss closer to him.

"You." she said petulantly, pushing him away and out of the bed not so gently.

He groaned softly as he walked to the door, rubbing his eyes to remove the blurriness. When he opened it, he clapped his hand over his eyes.

"Yours is not a face I want to see when I first wake up." He grumbled, glaring at Haymitch through the gaps in his fingers.

"Good morning to you too, sleeping beauty." The older man replied, taking in Cato's disheveled and half naked appearance with raised eyebrows as he drank from a flask.

"Who is it?" Katniss asked as she walked over and stood next to Cato, leaning on him as she squinted at Haymitch.

"Ah, another morning person. You two look… lively." He said, looking at Cato's boxers and Katniss' short robe.

"What do you want?" Katniss asked, yawning as she spoke.

"You're needed in training, sweetheart. Your daily dose of working your ass off doesn't end just cause you're lover comes home." her mentor said, smirking at them.

"I don't want to." She whined, running her fingers through her mess of hair.

"No choice. But you can bring boy toy here alone. We can all use his shining attitude there." Haymitch said unsympathetically as he turned and walked away.

"Beat him up for me." Katniss demanded as she slammed the door shut and leaned into Cato's chest, her arms wrapping around his stomach.

"I wish I could." he sighed, pulling her close.

"I never usually have this much of a problem getting out of bed. You just make it so comfortable and… I like it." the brunette said, shifting them backwards towards the bedroom.

Cato laughed when it became obvious what she was trying to do.

"Sorry babe, they want you in training and I'm delivering you." he informed her, pulling away to see her pouting.

She wasn't lying when she saw that she was having a hard time waking up. Katniss Everdeen never pouted.

"You're on my list." She informed him, turning to stomp into the bathroom.

"I thought I just got off your list!" he called, following her.

He was answered with the door slamming in his face.

"Damn." Cato muttered.

* * *

True to her word, Katniss didn't say a word as they walked to her training room together. When Cato let out a whistle as the large room was revealed to him, she turned to give him a leveling glare before collapsing on the mat to stretch out with Annie. Haymitch let out a short laugh at Cato's bemused expression. When the door opened, Katniss looked around to see Glimmer, Marvel, Clove, Peeta, Gale, Thresh, Rue, and Prim walking in.

"Are all of you here just to distract Miss Everdeen?" Boggs asked, narrowing his eyes at them, probably hoping to intimidate them into leaving.

He really didn't know a thing about them if he wanted to do that.

"Pretty much." Glimmer shrugged, walking past him to sit on the floor next to Katniss.

The rest followed her lead and crowded onto the wrestling mat. Cato remained on the edge watching Katniss interact with their friends. When her eyes lifted to meet his, she got a sort of smirk that was eerily reminiscent of Clove's smirk when she was thinking of something devious. As she stood slowly and walked towards him, he wondered exactly what she was thinking. Her thoughts were revealed when her hands shoved him backwards, she was stronger than he remembered, and he was suddenly immersed in water. He surfaced from the pool sputtering and cursing loudly, causing Rue and Prim to giggle at the expletives.

"Now you're off my list." Katniss said softly, leaning down and kissing his forehead before walking back to the mat.

* * *

After going back to Katniss' apartment and changing into dry clothes, Cato made his way back to the training center. When he was in, he was shocked to see Katniss standing in the middle of a circle of people with gloves on her hands that covered her knuckles and stopped there. She was sparring with Gale, ducking his blows and returning hits of her own. When she kicked him in the stomach and he flew backwards, Haymitch blew a whistle. Marvel darted forward, wrapping his arm around Katniss' throat.

Cato almost launched forward to take the bastard out but Boggs caught his arm.

"It's training, son. You remember." He growled, holding him back.

The younger man ripped his arm out of the older man's grip.

"You have some explaining to do." He hissed, referring to the incident with the letter.

"I know. Not here. Not now. Meet me in that forest place tonight at midnight. I'll explain." Boggs nodded before turning to watch Katniss bring down Marvel with her knee on his chest and her hand wrapped around his throat.

The whistle sounded again and Clove darted forward to rip Katniss off of Marvel and throw her to the ground. Despite her small stature, Clove was stronger than she looked. Katniss immediately whirled around and began trading punches with her. Everyone watched with amazed expressions. Katniss' and Clove's styles of fighting were very similar so it seemed almost like a choreographed dance as they darted around each other, ducking and punching with ease.

Finally, after about five minutes, Haymitch blew the whistle in one long tone and Katniss and Clove dropped their arms and sighed, slumping to the floor and smirking at each other.

"You put up a hell of a fight, firegirl." Clove commented.

"You too." Katniss agreed, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

"You're done for the day. You've put up a good fight." Finnick said, kneeling close by to grin at her.

"Well I noticed that you didn't join in on the 'beat up Katniss' time. Too scared now?" Katniss asked, referring to how she took him down easily a few days ago.

He simply laughed and pulled her into a hug, despite her struggles against him.

"Let me go, Finnick!" she cried, though she was smiling as well.

"Oh just admit that you love being close to me." he teased her, holding her tight and ignoring her protests.

When she was suddenly ripped out of his arms and pulled behind a glowering Cato, Finnick simply rolled his eyes and stood, patting Cato's chest.

"Calm down, big boy. We were just playing around." he assured him.

"Cato!" Katniss argued, darting around him to glare at him.

That's when she noticed the look in his eyes. As much as she hated the show of manliness, the fact that he was suddenly jealous of Finnick made him even more attractive.

"You're jealous." She breathed, taking his hand.

He let out a scoff and shook his head.

"You are! You're jealous!" she laughed, pulling him in for a hug.

He just stared at her, that blank stare that made everyone think that he wasn't listening to anyone. But Katniss knew better. He was trying to hide his emotions. She leaned forward and pecked his lips, ignoring the sounds of disgust that came from behind them, mostly from Haymitch.

"Let's go see Catri." She murmured, stroking his cheek and smiling when she saw his mask slipping at the mention of his sister.

* * *

**Author's Note: I am not proud of this chapter. I kind of hate it but I needed a chapter to lead to Boggs' explanation of what happened with the letter. Sorry about this. I'll do better next time!**


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